A model for assessing the effectiveness of professional development for improving student learning

For most of the last 50 years, teachers and administrators have perceived professional development and the instructional role primarily in terms of what one individual does with classes of others. Teachers, like their students, were considered to be rather passive acceptors of the instruction, rather than active modifiers. Thus, there was very little effort to gather empirical evidence that professional development worked especially when it came to its impact on student achievement. This project proposes a research design to gather empirical data on the Iowa Professional Development Model supported by technology. In this study educators were provided with an opportunity to integrate or vertically transfer much of what they learn through their professional development activities. The primary means of achieving this was through the building of a mature professional learning community connected by technology providing the key components of coaching and feedback reducing teacher isolation. These communities led to increased teacher understanding of the strategies, stimulated change, and resulted in increased student achievement

A unified approach to quantum dynamical maps and gaussian Wigner distributions

The KLM conditions are conditions that are necessary and sufficient for a phase-space function to be a Wigner distribution function (WDF). We apply them here to discuss three questions that have arisen recently: (1) For which WDFs P0 will the map P→P0*P be a quantum dynamical map - i.e. a map that takes WDFs to WDFs? (2) What are necessary and sufficient conditions for a phase-space gaussian to be a WDF? (3) Are there non-gaussian, non-negative WDFs? © 1988

Telepsychiatric assessment of a mariner expressing suicidal ideation.

This case report highlights the successful use of telepsychiatric consultation by secure video chat to remotely assess a mariner expressing suicidal ideation. As a result of this intervention, telemedicine providers initiated psychiatric stabilisation while the mariner was still aboard the vessel, determined that he was safe for repatriation under the care of qualified medical escorts, and facilitated admission to a psychiatric facility near his home in the United States. Mental health emergencies are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among mariners. Telepsychiatry is a validated method of establishing a psychiatric diagnosis and disposition as well as assessing risk of suicidality and the potential for violent decompensation. It has the potential to be a valuable adjunct to any traditional maritime telemedicine service

Dysuria: An Uncommon Presentation in Emergency Department Following Bladder Neck Disruption.

Prostate cancer is the most common life-threatening cancer diagnosed in men. Complications of prostatectomies vary and often include urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction and pain, while other complications go unreported. While emergency physicians are already familiar with the more common post-operative complications presenting to their departments, including urinary retention, ileus, surgical site infections, venous thromboembolisms and urinary tract infections, they must have a high index of suspicion for rarer complications. We report a case of posterior bladder neck disruption as a complication of a robotic assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy that presented to the emergency department as dysuria and abdominal pain following urination

Perturbations highlight importance of social history in parakeet rank dynamics

Dominance hierarchies can provide many benefits to individuals, such as access to resources or mates, depending on their ranks. In some species, rank can emerge as a product of a group’s history of social interactions. However, it can be difficult to determine whether social history is critical to rank in observation-based studies. Here, we investigated rank dynamics in three captive groups of monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus). We used experimental social perturbations to test whether social history shapes rank emergence in these groups. Using targeted removals and reintroductions, we tested whether differently ranked individuals could re-take their ranks in hierarchies after reintroduction following their removal period from the group. We performed perturbations that consisted of an 8-day removal and an 8-day reintroduction period of 15 differently ranked focal birds. We found that no focal birds could regain their previous rank immediately following reintroduction and that the top-ranked birds showed greater relative rank loss than middle/low-ranked birds. We also found that morphology, specifically bodyweight, was unassociated with rank. Combined with previous results, this experiment supports the hypothesis that rank in monk parakeet dominance hierarchies is more likely to be an emergent outcome of past interactions and memory rather than based on individual characteristics. Gaining a better understanding of how individuals achieve and maintain rank can give insight into the role of cognition on rank acquisition, as rank position can have significant biological effects on individuals in hierarchically structured groups

Author Correction: A population-specific reference panel empowers genetic studies of Anabaptist populations.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper

THE LIGNUM VITAE OF SAINT BONAVENTURE AND THE MEDIEVAL DEVOTIONAL TRADITION (SPIRITUALITY, FRANCISCANS)

The Lignum vitae of St. Bonaventure (1217-74) is the earliest and certainly among the finest literary expressions of Franciscan devotion to the humanity of Christ. The purpose of this dissertation is to demonstrate that Bonaventure\u27s short treatise is intended not simply to develop the affective and moral dimensions of the Christian personality but to lead the reader to a participation in the Pascal mystery of death and resurrection and so into a contemplative union with God in Christ. The approach taken is first to situate Bonaventure\u27s work in the tradition of medieval devotion, then to consider Bonaventure\u27s sources for the Lignum vitae, and finally to present a literary and theological analysis of the Lignum vitae itself. Part One surveys the development of devotion to the humanity of Christ. After a brief look at the Patristic period, special attention is given to the medieval masters of this spirituality, including Peter Damien, Anselm and Bernard. The rise of the meditatio as a distinct literary genre in the twelfth century is considered next. Finally the role of Francis of Assisi as a living icon of this devotion is examined. Part Two focuses on the use which Bonaventure made of two earlier meditations on the life of Christ, that included in the De institutione inclusarum of Aelred of Rievaulx and the Stimulus dilectionis of Eckbert of Schonau. The structure and theme of each of these works are considered, as well as the specific ways in which Bonaventure incorporated material from these meditations into his own treatise. The concept of meditative appropriation is proposed as an explanation of the relationship between these sources and the new work. Part Three presents a critical reading of the Lignum vitae, which includes a Prologue, introducing the Tree of Life as an organizing symbol, and three major sections, each consisting of sixteen meditations, on Christ\u27s birth and public life, his passion and death, and his resurrection and glorification. Close attention is given both to the structure of individual meditations and to their place in the overall development of the treatise. An analysis is made of the ways in which affective and moral aspects of the work are oriented toward a contemplative end